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The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn’t the first time they’ve appeared in Destiny City, but no one’s been able to tell where they came from or where they’re going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
She'd found that she didn't have to be enamored by every aspect of this planet to just enjoy sitting outside. Henley wasn't all that impressed by warm-hued sunrises or a dark sky scattered with millions of senshi worlds. She could take or leave the chittering chorus of insects in the morning, or the idle chatter of dozens of students as she rode the bus to the university. The birds sang in a caucophany at dawn, but Henley didn't feel like she was missing out on anything for not hearing it. She didn't hate these things that her comrades enjoyed so much. But they were just fine. She hardly felt anything for them one way or another.
Everything about Earth was 'just fine.'
Expressly enjoyable or not, she still found herself sitting out on the grass nearly every other night. She'd found a large, circular picnic blanket at the grocery store, easily enough to fit four or five people on it, and it was only necessary because something in the grass caused some kind of uncomfortable, itchy reaction on her skin. Maybe it was the bugs or some sort of pollen, but the blanket barrier kept all of that at bay, and she was able to simply sit, and peer out at the city.
For distinct joy or not, she had decreed that this was a worthwhile hobby. Simply sitting and watching and listening allowed her to observe happenings around the Vanguard house. Most of the were probably irrelevant, and things she could like up on the internet, like what kind of species nested or foraged here, or habits and behaviors of native populations. But if anyone asked or wanted to know, she would be able to say that there were two avian species living in the tree nearest the house. Blue jays on the lower rung of branches, and some kind of finch closer to the top near the trunk. All of the offspring had departed already; she hadn't seen them again.
There was a stray cat that hunted field mice here. She'd thought it was a Mauvian at first and had immediately given chase because surely a guardian would be able to help them, somehow? But it had screamed and clawed and spat when she'd caught it, and Henley had only had a fleeting moment to recognize that it didn't have a forehead star before it was kicking out of her grasp. Not as useful as she'd initially hoped...
Deer, skunks, foxes... There was a lot active out here for her to observe while just being still and quiet.
Tonight, her observation yielded a new phenomenon: blinks of color that seemed like ill-placed and ill-times Christmas lights. She had captured fireflies with Fysarius. Bioluminescent creatures were a sight, for sure, but not completely rare here. They had only ever been yellow, though. Flitting near and far in little blinks.
These seemed special. Beautiful, bobbing purples, blues, and greens. Something Henley had not witnessed before. As one drew in, she extended a hand out, curious to see if it would light on her, and-
Bzzt-
She jerked her hand away with a startled gasp, green eyes blown wide as the tiny bug had delivered some kind of uncomfortable jolt to her. ...This was why Earth was 'just fine.' The beautiful things came with drawbacks. Now instead of watching harmlessly, she felt like she was in an electric minefield. The shock didn't seem like it had been damaging, but... It was uncomfortable enough. Fysarius would for sure like to harvest one, but all Henley could manage to do was snap a quick video for him with her phone. The blinking bugs were out of her grasp, and when they came to her, they only wanted to do harm.
